UM Professor Appointed to Federal Reserve Bank Board

October 03, 2016

MISSOULA – Norma Nickerson, a research professor and director of the Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research at the University of Montana, recently was appointed to serve on the board of directors for the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis Helena Branch.

Nickerson has 22 years of experience leading the ITRR and will join the Helena Branch board as a tourism and recreation expert. She researches and writes about Montana’s tourism and recreation industry, has produced hundreds of reports for the industry and has presented globally about Montana tourism.

Nickerson also has served on the International Travel and Tourism Research Association Board, the Greater Wester Chapter of the Travel and Tourism Research Association board, and the Missoula Parks and Recreation Board.

“This is going to be an incredible learning experience for me, but more importantly I am excited to be able to represent tourism and recreation at a level that hasn’t been represented before,” Nickerson said. “Tourism and recreation are one of the top industries in Montana in terms of jobs and entrepreneurship and yet because of the small size of these businesses, their voices are rarely heard. I hope to be able to bridge that gap through this appointment with the Helena Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.”

Nickerson received the Tom Boone Town and Gown award from UM in 2011; the University of Utah Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Outstanding Alumni Award in 2011; and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Greater Western Chapter of the Travel and Tourism in 2011.

She will begin her first term on Jan. 1, 2017.

ITRR conducts travel and recreation research in Montana, with a primary focus on the nonresident travel survey conducted statewide.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis is one of 12 regional Reserve Banks that, with the Board of Governors in Washington, D.C., make up the Federal Reserve System, the nation’s central bank. Helena Branch directors contribute regional perspectives on economic conditions as part of the Federal Reserve’s monitoring of the national economy and the formulation of monetary policy.